Pale Pacific-er and all around engineer super-star Cam Niklaus sat down with Dave Crane (aka D. Crane, guitar/bass/vocals/

songwriting) and Jackson Long (aka J. Long, drumming/recording) for some insight into the world of reptile boy vocals and redefining imperfect pop on their latest release Setting the Paces.

Cam Niklaus (CN): Could you give us a brief history of boats origins and where it's at now?

Dave Crane (DC): BOAT started as me making tapes on a [red] 4 track in Chicago. I would get home from teaching (and eat frozen pizza [and] drink regular Coke) and record songs. When I moved back to Seattle at the end summer 2003, I started making more and more songs in my basement. Z. Duffy (our now webmaster/east coast touring member/Chicago member) would trade tapes of songs we wrote with me [and] it was never intended to go beyond him. At the Pixies Bumbershoot reunion show, Mark McKenzie told me the songs were good. Josh Goodman joined (playing crazy drums and having babies) and we started recording for Magic Marker Records, a very cool supportive label in Portland. J. Long joined up in 07ish and has been the anchor for the band. He has a wicked work ethic [and] he has pushed us forward with recording and making sure we know the songs.  He is also an avid baseballer/cookie eater.

CN: Jackson, let's talk about recording BOAT. I had the pleasure of recording basic tracks for several songs in addition to doing some mixing. Do you want to talk about the recording process with and without me? A lot of the recording was done at a house in Tacoma, right?

Jackson Long (JL): Our ultimate dream was to assemble a faux-studio in a spare room at Dave’s house in South Tacoma and chip away at LP3 over long weekends and evenings. It didn’t go down exactly like that and I, as defacto-producer, annoyed more bandmates, wifes and cats than I wanted to in the process, but I think it was worth it. We started recording (at Dave’s) during a weekend in February. I attempted to record my drum parts for a dozen songs in a weekend, while we had the gear we need – all cobbled together from multiple generous people.I thought I could power through and wear the “drummer hat” and “engineer hat” simultaneously. Not until 3 weeks later did I realize that some of the songs lacked the energy the songs should have.I suggested that we abandon a few nearly complete recordings….and try recording them new way. This didn’t go over particularly well with the dudes, but ultimately they were willing to try my new plan. I said: “Let’s go into Two Sticks  (the studio I work at) for one evening, with my friend Cam at the helm and try recording with all of us playing together.” This was BOAT’s first time recording in a proper studio and I think we were blown away at the efficiency and how much we sounded like ourselves. From this point, we took these “basic” tracks BACK to Tacoma, our space in SODO, Mark’s apartment, etc. and BOAT-ified them. As Dave says, “just turn them into a sloppy mess.”

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We here in imaginary land don't do a very good job of keeping our love for local chest pounding indie popsters BOAT a secret. Their TOPPS EP was at the top of my favorite releases of last year, and both imaginary Liz and I put 2007's Let's Drag Our Feet quite high on our best of '07 lists. And now, with a full length almost out entitled Setting the Paces, we can hardly contain our excitement, which is why we're happy to present you with this fabulous BOAT package!

One lucky imaginary reader will get:

- One CD or LP of their new full length Setting the Paces

- One BOAT t-shirt in whatever size you want

- Two tickets to their cardboard stage cut out filled 21+ CD release show on October 22nd at Neumo's with the Pale Pacific, Sirens Sister and The Special Places (Jenny and Corianton of Tullycraft!)

- and... one custom piece of art made by the fabulous D. Crane of BOAT (he could illustrate any kind of history you wanted!)

So come with us, you'll win! Just e-mail tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject "LatelyI'veBeenOnMyBack" (all one word please!) by Wednesday at 9am for your chance to win! Period, backslash, colon, it's that easy! Just be sure to include your full name, especially if your e-mail address is imaman@whenigrowup.com.

 

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To enter, simply send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with "Pale Pacific Prize Pack" (say that five times fast) in the subject line sometime before noon on Sunday, March 8.

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Win a prize package from Dangerbird Records that includes the latest VinylDisc from Eulogies and more!

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Even though we're in the midst of a celebratory time of year, the shock of the sudden closing of the legendary Crocodile Cafe is still with us.

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Chop Suey is hosting a benefit on Sunday, December 30 for The Croc (RIP) staff and Three Imaginary Girls is proud to sponsor the event.

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at The Crocodile

Hearing ["Gravity Gets Things Done"] in a room full of people who love it as much as I do, singing along to every word, made me wish that I never have to hear that fucking “Hey There Delilah” song ever again.

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Ho ho ho! 'Tis about that time to kick off the holiday season imaginarily!

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at Austin

Read about some of their fave performances from SXSW 2006, including Okkervil River, Art Brut, The Rakes, Billy Bragg, the Long Winters, Galactic Heroes, Figurines, The Gossip, the Magic Numbers, and more. Viva le Austin!

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Three Imaginary Girls, Sonic Boom Records, and KEXP present Daylight Basement, The Pale Pacific, Stars of Track and Field, and The Elephants.

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